Have you visited the Schiele Museum of Natural History? A great day trip is to the museum, which is in Gastonia, North Carolina. The children of Melanie from Kidding Around had a great time visiting the museum. They were enthralled by exhibitions on minerals, natural history, dinosaurs, and much more! If you haven’t been yet, add it to your list of must-see museums.
Schiele’s Planetarium & Natural History Museum
The Schiele Museum of Natural History is one of only 70 American museums that the Smithsonian Institution has designated as affiliates, and it offers excellent educational activities and exhibits for a delightful educational experience. The museum, which is located in Gastonia, the county seat of Gaston, provides an excellent environment for learning and creating memories. Among the permanent exhibits are natural history halls, a working farm, a planetarium, and the largest collection of mounted terrestrial mammals in the Southeast.
The Upstate is approximately an hour away from the Schiele Museum of Natural History. When we recently polled readers to find out where they thought we should visit while visiting Gastonia, this was the most popular answer!
A working farm will be featured in a brand-new exhibit called “The Farm Experience” this fall. When it debuts in the fall, the exhibition will have live animals, gardens that highlight different growth methods, and displays of agricultural machinery. Among the animals will be goats and a cow that is milking! Anyone who reads Kidding Around is aware of our love for goats. Actually, all creatures, but goats come in first.
Past the farm and along the nature path, there may be a stream-powered mill, a Catawba Indian village, a stone-age display, a wildlife garden, a pond, and a children’s play area called the “Playscape.”
A big person (or persona, since we omitted an official introduction) will greet you when you enter in the lobby. This is where you find the ticket window. The inexpensive tickets do not include the planetarium performance. Visit the website to see the most latest ticket prices.
If you plan to visit often, think about getting a membership. Both Roper Mountain Science Center and the Museum take part in the ASTC passport scheme. The Shiele Museum is open to anyone who is an RMSC member, and admission is free. The ASTC Passport program allows free admission to member institutions. If you choose to travel, just one trip to a partner museum will cover the cost. On a recent trip to Florida, we were able to visit three different museums in the Tampa/Orlando area thanks to the benefits of the RMSC membership. Even one of these museums would have cost more to enter than the membership price.
The museum also offers two free events each month. General admission to the museum is free on the second Tuesday of every month from 4 pm to 8 pm. Duke Energy is now funding two free evenings at the museum. It is necessary to make reservations in advance for the free programs on Tuesday and Friday. Four times a year, free days will also include a planetarium show.
